


Inked

by dutchydoescoke



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo parlour, Gen, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 21:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchydoescoke/pseuds/dutchydoescoke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joan, as Sherlock's sober companion, was required to spend nearly all her time with him, including residence and place of business. Which, in this case, happened to be Tobias Gregson's tattoo parlour.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inked

**Author's Note:**

> Short tattoo parlour AU because it wouldn't get out of my head.
> 
> No sense of shame, written for kicks, not serious, etc. etc.

Joan, as Sherlock’s sober companion, was to spend nearly all of her time with him, and that included his place of business and home. Which meant home, for the next six weeks, was an apartment two floors up from a tattoo parlour, which was owned by one Tobias Gregson.

Sherlock, as it turned out, worked as an artist there. Or had, prior to his enforced rehab time. So he worked there, in the least conventional meaning of the word “worked”.

He went between the apartment and the shop at random, usually with little more than a “going downstairs, be back in a bit” to Joan, who always followed him down.

She found, while he worked on various tattoos, that Sherlock’s eye for detail meant his tattoos came out almost always flawless, and he usually somehow knew what the customer wanted before they even said it. (There had been one incident where he’d made a slight mistake in the inking and he hadn’t let himself forget it. The customer hadn’t noticed, but Sherlock had, and spent the rest of the day upset at himself for it.)

Sherlock spent much of his time outside the parlour insisting that Joan let him tattoo her, saying that if she was working with someone at a tattoo parlour, she should have one herself. Joan just ignored him and talked to Marcus about proper aftercare methods.

It seemed, however, that whenever she turned around, there was some tattoo design or another, obviously tailored specifically for her, left taped to the wall or set on a desk, all very obviously from Sherlock. Three weeks, she went through it, until she woke up one morning with it taped to her forehead and decided it was enough.

“Sherlock, we need to talk,” Joan yelled, walking to the living room and yanking off her socks. Sherlock stepped out of the kitchen, wiping a towel over what was, undoubtedly, another tattoo on his arm. “You want me to have a tattoo? Fine. Here’s my tattoos.”

Joan sat on the chair and tugged her pajama legs up until the ribbons tattooed around her calves were showing, looking up at Sherlock and raising an eyebrow.

“Happy?”

“I did not see that one coming. Ballet as a child?” Sherlock asked, kicking her socks back over to her.

“And teenager, and college. Gave it up when it and med school were too hard to balance,” Joan replied, pulling her socks back on and getting up. “Did them myself after I graduated as my present to myself.”

“You know how to tattoo people?”

“Yes. I took a class, and did them. Haven’t done any since,” Joan said, walking into the kitchen for coffee and raising an eyebrow when she saw Sherlock’s face. “What’s that look for?”

“You should work in the shop. Gregson and Bell could use someone like you.”

“I’m a sober companion, not a tattoo artist.”

“We’ll see, Watson. We’ll see.”


End file.
